Bringing a Gender Perspective to the Peace Table: Women in Myanmar’s Peace Process

<p>Ethnic division and inequality lie at the heart of Myanmar's internal conflicts. In these conflicts, ethnic women are the most vulnerable group based on their ethnicity and gender. They are not only victims of violence, they have also been systematically marginalized from formal peace processes under both military and civilian governments. This thesis uses a feminist constructivist approach to examine the gendered role of women and girls in Myanmar society and the impacts of armed conflicts on women and girls in the conflict areas. The thesis discusses the history of ethnic divisions in Myanmar since independence in 1948, various peace initiatives pursued by Myanmar governments and the experiences of women and girls during conflict and their involvement in the more recent peace-building process. Drawing on extensive interviews with officials, politicians and civil society representatives, the thesis argues that if a sustainable and just peace is to be built in Myanmar, women need to be given a greater role. It also identifies obstacles that need to be overcome if women are to participate effectively in both formal and informal peace processes.</p>

Bringing a Gender Perspective to the Peace Table: Women in Myanmar’s Peace Process

<p>Ethnic division and inequality lie at the heart of Myanmar's internal conflicts. In these conflicts, ethnic women are the most vulnerable group based on their ethnicity and gender. They are not only victims of violence, they have also been systematically marginalized from formal peace processes under both military and civilian governments. This thesis uses a feminist constructivist approach to examine the gendered role of women and girls in Myanmar society and the impacts of armed conflicts on women and girls in the conflict areas. The thesis discusses the history of ethnic divisions in Myanmar since independence in 1948, various peace initiatives pursued by Myanmar governments and the experiences of women and girls during conflict and their involvement in the more recent peace-building process. Drawing on extensive interviews with officials, politicians and civil society representatives, the thesis argues that if a sustainable and just peace is to be built in Myanmar, women need to be given a greater role. It also identifies obstacles that need to be overcome if women are to participate effectively in both formal and informal peace processes.</p>

PEMBINGKAIAN BERITA KONFLIK BERSENJATA NDUGA DI TABLOIDJUBI.COM

The media has an important role as a mediator in conflict events. That role can be realized through the practice of peace journalism. Peace journalism is the ability of the media to bring conflict events toward peace. The conflict that occurred in Nduga, Papua is one of the important events mediated by the media. There are so many people who are disadvantaged if the media such as Tabloidjubi.com does not report the conflict with a peace journalism approach. This article analyzed the reporting of Tabloidjubi.com using the concept of peace journalism and the method of framing analysis on 15 news in the December 2018 edition. This study tried to see whether Tabloidjubi.com uses the perspective of peace journalism in its reporting. The results showed that Tabloidjubi.com had not applied peace journalism adequately. The news still dominates one side as a cause of conflict, namely the warring elites compared to the creation of peace initiatives. So that the role as a mediator in creating resolution, reconstruction and reconciliation has not yet been realized.

Clerical associations in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates: soft power competition in Islamic politics

In the wake of the 2011 Arab uprisings, the wealthy Gulf states of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates began hosting and establishing associations of influential Islamic scholars. These clerical associations, the Doha-based International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS) and the Abu Dhabi-based Muslim Council of Elders (MCE) and associated peace initiatives, have afforded a platform for more credibly entering into religious and political debates, for cultivating new networks of influence among Muslim publics, and engaging non-Islamic countries and organizations. Drawing upon interviews and primary resources, this study investigates this exercise in religious statecraft, comparing the discourse and policy interventions of these associations, and analysing their improbable challenge to the predominant religious terms set by the traditional heavyweight in the Gulf, Saudi Arabia. It finds that the effectiveness, or resonance, of these religious soft power projects depends upon credibility—their alignment with national religious traditions and policy directions—and positioning—the targeting of particular audiences and stakeholders. It concludes that the UAE holds certain advantages over Qatar in its soft power positioning in the current nationalist moment, as states gain ground over transnational Islamic movements and relations with powers such as India, Russia, China and Israel—all hostile to independent Islamic movements—gain in importance. Policy-makers acknowledging the surprising hard power projection of these small states through military interventions and economic leverage may benefit from this study of their new religious soft power influence.

TRANSFORMING IDENTITIES AND RELATIONS: A CASE OF TALIBAN PEACE TALKS IN THE PAKISTANI PRESS

Purpose of the study: The study examines the role of Pakistani mainstream print media in framing peace talks between the Taliban and the Government of Pakistan from 1st January 2014 till 1st July 2014. This study focuses on the role played by the print media of Pakistan during the efforts for the peace talks as a LIC. Methodology: It is a quantitative research study in which researchers have used the content analysis technique to determine how print media framed the peace negotiations between the government and the TTP, editorials, and columns of two English newspapers, namely, Dawn and The News, along with two Urdu newspapers, Jang, Nawe Waqt were analyzed. Main Findings: The findings of the study show that in the peace talks between the government and TTP, the print media of Pakistan did not engage in constructive talk to facilitate the peace talking process. The media failed to give the communicative space to facilitate the political negotiating process to proceed. Narratives of despair and fear were dominant. Applications of this study: This study can be used to know about the psychology of newspapers that how they are framing the news, columns, and articles related to complex issues like Taliban peace talks. Along with it, it is necessary to see the role of newspapers in transforming identities and relations. Novelty/Originality of this study: This study contributed to the existing literature by examining that how print media of Pakistan frame the peace initiatives in the context of resolving the conflict between the Taliban and the government of Pakistan. Apart from it, it is necessary to know about the relationship between the way media was framing the peace negotiations and the way peace talks were taking a turn and whether Pakistani print media played the role of a facilitator of the peace process or framed the peace process as an inevitable risk of more violence or not.

Between Resistance and Repatriarchalization. Women’s Activism in the Bay of Kotor in the 1990s

The author offers an account of women’s activism in the Bay of Kotor in the 1990s, thereby filling a gap in the academic literature on antiwar and peace activism in Montenegro during the Yugoslav wars. Although the Bay of Kotor saw regular antiwar and peace initiatives organized and led by women, these were unregistered grassroots activities. They went largely unnoticed by the media, which effectively erased them from the view of Montenegrin citizens and hid them from domestic and international historians and social scientists. The author compares the work of two non-governmental organizations, the ANIMA Centre for Women’s and Peace Education in Kotor, and RIZA–Bijela. She explores how the two organizations understood the place and role of women in the processes that took place in Montenegro in the 1990s. She assesses the similarities and differences of their respective approaches, and the effects of their work.

Sequencing United Nations peacemaking: Political initiatives and peacekeeping operations

The UN has developed a diverse range of peacemaking tools, including different forms of political initiatives (diplomatic, technocratic, and political-development missions) and peacekeeping operations. Yet we know surprisingly little about when and why we observe the onset of different types of UN missions. Examining an “escalatory trajectory,” we analyze the United Nations Peace Initiatives data, a new dataset providing information on all different types of UN engagements. Our main contributions are that we provide insights into how the different types of missions relate to one another and conceptual clarity about what the different types of missions are.

Post 9/11 Trends: Bush to Obama to Trump (Multilateralism and Peace Initiatives in Afghanistan)

The overall U.S. strategy in Afghanistan lacks clarity and consistently coordinated efforts/policies to bring peace in the war-torn country. From the Bush to Obama and Trump administrations, the situation remains complex, and ambiguity prevails on the future of Afghanistan and achievements; therefore, the U.S. needs to think outside the box to emerge from this turbulent 19 years-long war. No single country can bring peace and security in Afghanistan due to its complex and diverse nature of issues, its history of conflicts and unsettled domestic issues, which divided the nation into different tribes and factions. The continuity in using soft and smart powers, a multilateral approach, along with Principal-Agent theory, would help to further pave the way forward for bringing peace in Afghanistan. The consistent approach towards state-building and nationbuilding took by U.S. coalitions, and the U.N. will have a positive impact and create a consensus to develop a peaceful and stable Afghanistan.